The days of a dental cleaning consisting of a quick “buff and polish” are over. Today’s dental visit should be more like a physical. Many findings during a dental visit can have a major impact on your overall health.
1. Blood Pressure: At every dental appointment, your blood pressure should be taken. High blood pressure is a sign that your heart is working too hard. If your blood pressure is too high, a visit to your medical doctor is recommended.
2. Oral Cancer Detection: At every dental cleaning, a thorough cancer screening should be conducted. Oral cancers are on the rise and are easier to treat and survive the earlier they are detected.
3. Sleep Apnea Diagnosis: Sleep Apnea is a very serious condition that involves a person stopping breathing several times throughout the night. Small airways, large necks, and snoring are good indicators that sleep apnea is present, or may be present in the future. Some dentists have screening equipment that can actually test you for sleep apnea. At that time, a referral to a sleep physician or a sleep appliance made by the dentist may be recommended.
4. Gum Disease : Bacteria in your mouth leads to bleeding gums and bone loss around your teeth. According to the ADA, 78% of the adult population has some form of periodontal (gum) disease. In addition, periodontal disease is not just an infection that affects your mouth, it affects your entire body. Periodontal disease has been linked to heart disease, strokes, diabetes, and a weakened immune system. Therefore, your dentist should be measuring and monitoring your gums with each cleaning, and when necessary, treating your gum disease accordingly.
Dental Tip of the Month:
Want to live longer…Floss!
In today’s society, we are rushed, stressed, and over committed and it comes as no surprise that we are all looking for ways to save time. Many of my patients feel that they have no time to floss. While this seems like a valid excuse, you may have less time on your hands if you don’t floss.
• If you start flossing today, you could add up to 6 years on to your life!
• 6 years would be an additional 3.1 million minutes.
• Let’s say you are a REALLY slow flosser and it took you 5 minutes per day.
• Let’s say you floss every day of your 100 year life- you would spend 182,500 minutes of your life flossing.
• This would leave you with an additional 5.6 years to do whatever you want!!
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